WEB CRIPPLING BEHAVIOUR OF LITESTEEL BEAM

LiteSteel Beam (LSB) was introduced in order to meet the growing demand of light structural elements that are easier to carry and install. They are in a way different from normal CFS sections in terms of their hollow flange which increases its load carrying capacity, the absence of free edges in LSB which minimizes local buckling failure, higher bending moment carrying capacity as the materials are distributed away from the neutral axis and greater bending stiffness. The LSB sections considered, consisted of two rectangular hollow flanges and a thin web in between, joined by welding. The basis of this study involved fabricating three sections 1.2 mm thick and depth varied as 300 mm, 250 mm, 200 mm as a representative of using it as purlin and in few cases as a secondary beam in small steel-framed houses. The Web crippling behaviour of these sections was studied by finding the sectional properties of the specimens using Cornell university finite strip method (CUFSM), followed by an experimental study which consisted of i)material characterization through tensile coupon tests ii)test on specimens to obtain maximum load carrying capacities and desired buckling modes. Further, using Finite element analysis software (ABAQUS) a model was generated to reproduce the results.